


The Words Unspoken

by Swiss_Taco



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, F/F, Romance, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 02:41:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11152533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swiss_Taco/pseuds/Swiss_Taco
Summary: What happens inside the Bunker, hanging hundreds of kilometers above Earth, while the 14th Machine War rages on down on the surface? And does YoRHa Commander really just stand there on the bridge all days long?





	1. Art[ I ]ficial Socialization

**Author's Note:**

> **Alright, I'm super self-conscious right now... But I shall not falter!  
> **   
>  **Hi, it's my first fanfiction ever, and first work in english too (it's my second language), so please be gentle T^T I fell in love with NieR:Automata, it's an awesome game with even more awesome characters, so the first thing I did after reaching the end of route C was searching for fanfics, obviously... and I found so little that focus on Commander... I thought "This cannot continue!" and wrote this. She deserves some love too!**   
>  **EDIT: Ok, this was harder and easier than I thought at the same time. I decided to continue writing in english and create more fics in the future, after I finish this one.**

„Unit 34D, report at Commander’s quarters in five minutes. Repeat, unit 34D, report at Commander’s quarters in five minutes” sounded from Bunker’s speakers system. That was beyond unusual – Commander was rarely seen outside the Bunker’s bridge. When she wasn’t there she could be found in the maintenance module, or making one of her strictly scheduled rounds, but that was it.

There was one more reason for the request to be so interesting. Commander had never asked anyone to see her _there_. Her room did exist of course, everyone could see the door, but no one had seen the interior. It was like a mythical land of some sort, and now one of Bunker Internal Defense Force members could – even had to – step into the unknown.

For aforementioned 34D the situation was extremely stressful. First, she had no idea why she suddenly became The Chosen One, blessed with a chance to see the orbital station’s little El Dorado. Second, she was shy by nature and hearing her name from speakers, along with everyone in the entire Bunker, would make her blush like hell if she was able to blush at all. And she couldn’t figure out why Commander even wanted to see her in the first place. Had she done something wrong? Had she not been training properly? Had she broken some rules, not even knowing? Maybe Commander had a special mission for her?

These and hundreds more questions boiled over in 34D’s superficial consciousness circuits while she was hastily approaching Commander’s doors. She saw many curious looks, and many sympathetic too, while heading through Bunker’s main corridor. She knew questions and whispers wouldn’t end after she was finally released from the meeting, and she already hated it. _If she’d be let out at all_ , whispered her silent inner voice. A small shiver ran down her spine, one of many reflexes that made her wonder. Shivering was utterly useless from the engineering point of view – it lowered combat readiness, wasted energy and sped up artificial muscles wearing, not to mention it was simply unpleasant. It was an exclusively organic life reflex, implemented in androids’ bodies for no logical purpose. 

This lack of common sense bothered 34D during her everyday routine more than it probably should, but she had more absorbing things to think about right now. Now she had to press a call button since her given five minutes almost passed. She didn’t want to be late even more than she didn’t want to be there at all – Commander certainly would do some unimaginable, but undoubtedly horrible things to her if she had taken more of her time than absolutely necessary. Another shiver, one last deep breath and the button did its duty for the first time in a century or so.

The door opened almost immediately and a short “Come in” could be heard. 34D stepped inside and the door shut down instantly right behind her. “U-unit 34D reporting for d-duty” she managed to stutter out, standing still and straight. Stuttering, another strange reflex resembling speech systems malfunction more than anything else…

The room was surprisingly simple and small, only slightly bigger than regular YoRHa quarters. A simple bed in a corner, one big window showing blue curve of Earth’s surface, a bookcase and a shop terminal placed to the left of the entrance, nothing special. The only two things standing out were a big wardrobe, occupying half of the wall to the right of the entrance and a huge terminal with six monitors at it.

But the interior was merely a plain background for the person sitting on a chair near the second terminal. Person so calm and serene, and yet so intimidating at the same time, spreading an aura of authority by simply _being there_. Commander was respected and even admired by almost all YoRHa members, who executed her orders without a second thought, trusting her judgement and intentions. 34D wasn’t an exception – she considered her Commander a role model, or some kind of mentor, definitely someone to look up to. These positive feelings made the meeting even more stressful. Who the hell ever thought giving androids, read ‘high end killing automats’, ability to feel stressed was a good idea?! Humans sure were strange creatures.

“At ease, 34D” said Commander. There was no trace of reprimand in her tone, which was a huge relief for the guest. “I can almost see you trembling. Calm down, you did nothing wrong. Quite the opposite in fact. Now sit down, please. And take off that visor, you won’t need it” she added, pointing at a simple chair in front of her and smiling cheerfully. 34D did as she was told, now drifting on vast, calm waters far beyond storms of stress. She could deal with reprimands, scowling, and punishments, she prepared herself for it. Nothing could prepare her for this – Commander was so relaxed, so informal… 34D almost expected her to literally explode or brutally murder her while laughing maniacally, or strip right there and then, or give her some cake and gossip about Operators, or just anything crazy, really. Where had gone the strict, aloof leader she knew?!

“Alright, you won’t relax until I tell you why you’re here, will you?” asked Commander with a small sigh. “You’re getting a promotion. From now on you’re the leader of Bunker Internal Defense Force.” Straight to the cause, huh? If 34D didn’t already sit, she would need to do so now. For a moment she felt a tiny impulse to stand up and sit down again just to display her astonishment. “Y-yes ma’am” she managed to say after few seconds. “Thank you, ma’am”

“Your new responsibilities and schedule will be sent to your e-mail box. You’re one of Bunker’s command officers now, thus you answer to me and only me.”

“Yes, ma’am”

“Great. Now that we have the boring stuff behind us, there’s one more issue I wanted to discuss with you” said Commander. Her friendly gaze changed slightly. Now she looked concerned rather than happy, though she was still smiling. 34D, almost recovered from her stupefaction, felt the unfamiliar impulse of spine muscles contracting again. Her world was slowly returning back to normal, her Commander was covering work related topics and now this? It seemed kind of personal, judging by body language of the blonde, and it didn’t help 34D compose herself at all. She just sat there, staring intensely at Commander, not able to say a word. Finally she nodded somehow, hoping it was enough.

“You see… I’ve had an eye on you for some time” started Commander. 34D’s eyes widened even more, which seemed impossible just a second before. “I always watch over promising candidates for commanding posts” she added quickly “and I can see your adaptation and observational skills are above average, not to mention your composure…” _Yeeeeaaaah, the last one in particular_ thought 34D “…but your social skills do concern me. I have no doubt you could properly utilize given resources in battle and plan sublime and deadly strategies, but you need to earn your people’s trust too. You must know them well and they must know you. For now, as I could see it, you’re kind of an outcast, despite doing well with work related contacts.”

“…yes, ma’am. I understand.” _Oh man, there goes my peaceful life._

“Don’t worry” said Commander, smiling warmly “I’m going to help you. I need Bunker’s defense in top notch condition and I need you to open up a bit to acquire it. Meet me here in 24 hours, unless an emergency occurs, of course. Gather some data on animal biology before then. That’s all.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Said 34D, stood up and saluted. “Glory to mankind!” she almost shouted and left the room, not waiting for response. It was simply too much. _Composure my ass!_ she thought, storming towards the station’s maintenance module. She needed some serious internal memory sorting before checking on her mail and looking up all the stuff on animals. Truly, she had no idea why Commander wanted her to do it, but an order is an order and 34D was going to execute it no matter how ridiculous it might be. She was a soldier after all.

But why? Whyyyy?! What was going on? She was guarding docks as always, updating flight units status and stuff, when suddenly Commander asked her to come over to her room, which hadn’t seen any guests for at least forty years. One does not simply wake up in the morning and thinks “Hey, what a beautiful day to screw with my subordinates!” Or maybe Commander was more of a prankster than anyone would suspect her to be…

Since the day 34D was manufactured there was not a single case of someone entering Commander’s room, apart from its owner. It was like Earth surface for the Operators, but without pictures. Even cleaning staff was forbidden there, which resulted in tons of gossip and wild guesses. Of course, once in a while some of them tried to convince everyone they had been there, but to no avail – they could say they played badminton with the Aliens and more people would believe them. It was obvious that if anyone was ever made to go to Commander’s quarters, they would be a part of something extremely important, something vital to entire YoRHa, humanity, war with the machines and structure of a Universe or two. 34D had felt like going to her own execution on her way there.

And it turned out… disappointing. After most of stress and anxiety had finally passed, 34D was sincerely disappointed. The room was plain, apart from the huge terminal, probably Commander’s personal one. The issue was just 34D’s promotion and some minor concerns about her behavior. She expected something big, a life-changing mission or something like that, and in her imagination the room resembled ancient throne rooms. She felt stripped from her dreams and fantasies, left open to cold and boring reality. Her life changed, but most of this change was just that there was more work to do now. She sighed and entered the maintenance module.

Why Commander would disorient half of YoRHa members and make 34D a center of new urban legends and gossip because of something so insignificant? _Shit, I don’t understand her at all!_

~

_I did it. I finally did it._ Commander was laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her emotional layer of consciousness was a mess. She was well aware what kind of gossip storm she invited to the Bunker, she knew YoRHa better than anyone. These androids became her friends, or children maybe, throughout the centuries, and she enjoyed observing them, seeing how they develop and become more complex and different one from another. People who had written the self-evolving personality code indeed had been ingenious.

Along with exceptional data analysis capabilities, adaptive skills and everything else that made androids so incredible, the emotions came. Commander could only guess whether they were implemented on purpose by some twisted design or they spawned themselves independently due to code’s self-evolution, but they were real, their origin not important. What was important was that Commander had just broken an unwritten rule, forced on her by herself hundreds of years ago – Do. Not. Get. Attached.

She knew what was going to happen, why growing fond of any YoRHa member would bring only suffering to all parties. Still, the emotions were there and gave no damns about any logical arguments. And so she acted like an idiot and against her own rules, and invited 34D into her room. Gods save this poor unit, Commander had already scheduled regular socialization sessions in advance, uploaded massive amounts of seemingly useless data and was _happy_ just thinking about it!

She could think it through over and over again, but she had no time for it. Duty called, so she sent all information 34D might need and headed for the bridge. Commander’s mind shifted back to business. The machines started to act strange recently. Many Resistance camps reported groups of machines that were able to talk and were disconnected from their network, apparently. Most of these groups consisted of just few specimens, but there were whole villages too. Few of them were even peaceful. Something big was coming, and Commander felt it wasn’t anything pleasant.

When she arrived on the bridge, she almost drowned in a flood of reports to read, requests to answer and decisions to make. There were new schedules and transfers to make, countless operations to plan… It was a miracle she had had time to speak with 34D at all. She felt guilty a bit, abandoning her post when her people needed her, but the meeting was a part of her work too. She did discuss work-related stuff, right?

It wasn’t the main focus of the talk, though, and she knew it perfectly. Her concern about her subordinate’s behavior was a weak cover-up too. She just wanted to be with 34D alone, talk to her, see her cute, unique hairstyle, hear her slightly shaking voice… What started as a simple search for a new team leader ended up as an interest in this particular person. Observing 34D, through monitoring system as well as personally, quickly became a hobby, alarmingly similar to obsession. Everything about seemingly plain android was fascinating for Commander. Why she cut hair to this particular length, so its red endings gently brushed her shoulders? Why she used this simple but adorable hairpin, causing her hair to uncover her left earlobe? Why she trained so much in her spare time, while she could just have some fun? What kind of music she liked? How much she wanted to step on the surface of Earth? Which BIDF members she liked and why? So many questions, so few answers. 34D was a modest person, showing little to no emotions, which made her even more attractive in Commander’s eyes.

Still, she felt her actions were justified. She had considered 34D best suit for the promotion even before she started to see her in different light. The Defender had almost all traits fitting a successful team leader, she only lacked self-confidence a bit, and that was something Commander could fix. Both of them needed it. Why not go for it? It wouldn’t be wrong to satisfy a basic need for personal contact, buried in the corner of her figurative heart for so long, right?

She opened a report on trade agreements with a machine life form that referred to itself as Pascal. Yes, something definitely was drawing near. _If there’s time to be truly alive, it’s now_ , she thought. Commander’s guts told her there might be no second chance.


	2. Emotional Hea[ L ]th Threats

After a short inspection in maintenance module and returning to her quarters 34D checked on her mail. As expected, a message from Commander appeared, its title’s vibrant red urging her to read it. She sighed for a hundredth time this day and opened the message. She was curious after all, excited even – she got an e-mail from Commander herself! Also, it was her duty. Right, that was the main and only reason, she was just a diligent soldier, executing orders as soon as she could. Definitely that was the cause. Yes.

_**34D**_

_**Congratulations on your promotion. I know, I know, it’s me who is responsible for YoRHa soldiers deployment. Still, I’m happy you were the one who has met and exceeded everyone’s expectations, and became the best candidate for the position of BIDF Commanding Officer.**_  
_**Your new responsibilities will include Bunker’s defense planning, BIDF crew task division, Remote Defense Systems checks, and joint forces strategy and tactics training along with your current obligations. All questions should be directed to your assigned Operator. She will contact you as soon as you close this message.**_  
_**Your first task is to set chain of command in your unit and prepare a detailed schedule for all members – I expect it done in under 3 hours.**_  
_**Upload reports to the server every 48 hours from now on.**_

_**Glory to mankind**_

_**YoRHa Commander**_

_**On the side note, try not to be so stiff when you come to see me next time. I don’t bite.**_

The message seemed pretty normal. Mostly. The “side note” was something different though. 34D wasn’t sure what Commander meant by saying “so stiff” – she was 34D’s superior after all, she should expect a regular soldier to act formal in her presence. Heck, she should act formal too! If 34D had a heart, her pulse rate would skyrocket. _She wants me to act informal when we’re alone? No, no no no, calm down right now 34D, you’re overthinking it. But… on the other hand it makes sense, she’s always so cool and strict even to herself, and I’ve never seen her casually chatting with anyone… maybe she just needs someone to be her acquaintance and not only a subordinate…_

__

__

She closed the message automatically, lost in thoughts. A sudden beep of her communicator almost made her jump. 

_“Operator 13O to 34D. Come in, 34D”_

“34D here! What do you need, Operator?” she answered hastily. She should have expected the call, she just read about it, for gods’ sake! 

_“I believe you read the message from Commander. I’m your assigned Operator, nice to meet you and congratulations on promotion! BIDF needed a Commanding Officer badly since 29B was transferred, y’know? I’ll be happy to provide any support you’d ever need, don’t hesitate to ask any questions, especially if they sound stupid, they’re usually the most important ones. And don’t worry, I’d never make fun of you! Not for real at least. Sooo, how’s work going? You have some ultra-important tasks already? You ready to order people around? You should come to the bridge and meet me in person some time, I got some funny stuff to share if you wanna!”_

_Damn, your mouth just won’t shut, eh?_ was what 34D thought, but decided on simple “Thank you, I’m good. I’ll contact you as soon as I have any questions. 34D out.” She disconnected before the Operator could protest. There was no time for a barren chatter, she had tons of work to do. She also hoped working would reduce stress, divert her attention from _what_ and direct it to _how._

Once she commenced, her thoughts indeed shifted to problem solving mode. Creating an optimal schedule for all members of her unit took whole tremendous one and a half seconds, uploading it to the servers and sending proper messages to everyone included. Her combat model CPU couldn’t compete with terrific capabilities of the Operators’ ones, but still, all YoRHa androids had the best parts in the world. 

That was the easy part. There was one more thing to do – and she felt obliged to do it right. She should meet her unit, say something to them, designate her deputy commander… adjust and re-upload her schedule … and get to know her people. She had already memorized their numbers, combat styles, voices and other superficial traits long time ago, but she didn’t _know_ them. She was afraid of what they thought of her promotion, too. There were some more competent and socially adjusted androids in BIDF who might feel they were better candidates for the position. _They’re probably right…_

34D planned her unit’s meeting for hour 14:00 UTC – she had enough time to prepare herself, but too little to seriously consider stealing a flight unit and desertion. _Alright, what to say? I’m your new commanding officer, you can count on me, I know you don’t know me well, but…_ no, that’s no good. _Never apologize when talking to groups of people! You’re the one in control here, 34D, or you should at least pretend you are! Confidence, that’s what you must show them! So… explain the situation, deliver first orders, you can count on me guys, I’m sure we’ll get along… yes, that should suffice._

_I really hope we’ll get along. They’ve probably considered me_ that girl _until now…_

~

The dock was a relatively big room for space station’s interior norms, but it felt crowded now. In addition to regular dock crew there were twenty three BIDF members, 34D included. There was no conference room in the Bunker so the dock must have suffice. Most of their guarding duty was there anyways, and 34D though it was a good idea to give her little speech in a friendly environment. All those crates, tools and flight units were a calming sight indeed.

34D exhaled slowly and stepped onto a box in front of her unit. Only twenty three of them, so few to defend YoRHa main base, one of the most important structures ever created. Weight of her new responsibility hit her suddenly like a ton of bricks. Or million tons. But she was standing on a box before and above them now, all gazes fixed on her, awaiting orders. No going back.

34D had never been more stressed.

“Hello, team. You know who I am and I know who you are, so there’s no point in introducing myself. As you were informed, I’m the new BIDF Commanding Officer, replacing 29B, who was transferred to a surface base. Now that I’m in charge I hope we’ll get to know each other better and become an even more efficient and well-knit unit than we are now, and that all of you will help me achieve this goal. My second in command will be 8H, so no changes here. As I was requested, I made new schedules for everyone and uploaded them on BIDF server, but don’t worry – there are no major changes. If you have any questions, feel free to ask – I’m all yours” she finished with a wan smile. _Okay, that wasn’t so bad… now for the…_

“Ummm… I have a question…” asked 8H, her new deputy commander. She was a gentle soul, and an extraordinarily curious one. Curious and blunt.

“Yes?” _Of course you have a question, everyone does. Here we go..._

“You were in Commander’s room, right? What it’s like?”

Now the entire dock was gazing at 34D intensely, not only her team. All noises ceased, every movement stilled. Her deputy put in words a question that was gnawing at literally everyone. She hesitated for a second, forced her face to relax and said with a blank expression “I’m sorry, this information is classified”

Their faces made her smirk internally.

_I’m an officer now, I can mess with my own unit. I deserve some fun for all this trouble, for gods’ sake!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **So I finally made the second chapter. It took me longer than expected, the finals were tougher than I thought they would be. Since they're finally over, I'll post next chapters a bit faster. I hope for hints on what to improve, especially regarding language!**   
>  **Thank you for reading, and until next chapter is done I bid you farewell.**


	3. C[ O ]nsultations

34D was positively surprised by how warm and accepting was her unit. Her deputy was a huge help and provided tons of information on how 34D’s predecessor had dealt with reports and Remote Defense System. Her empathic personality meshed with hers quite well and after only few hours 34D felt almost at ease in her presence.

The team’s behavior, diligent and kind of relaxed at the same time, boosted 34D’s self-confidence significantly. The question about Commander’s room still lingered between the lines, but remained unspoken for now – it was a “classified” information after all.

All of that didn’t mean 34D would just socialize with them, go to a party or drink together. They only ceased to scare the hell out of her. She was able to deal with them on professional foot – she treated them like PODs, not like real persons, and that worked. She didn’t want to, of course, but there was no other way to overcome her internal barriers. She would have asked 7S, their only Scanner type in the unit, to dig through her code and replace some lines years ago… but, thanks to these lines, she was unable to speak to him. And so the vicious cycle closed.

~

34D returned from joint forces strategy lecture to her room, took off her shoes and visor and jumped on her bed. Why couldn’t she just upload all necessary data into her memory? The argument about “saving memory space on servers” wasn’t really convincing for her, but she had gone there to listen, not to argue. In fact she enjoyed the lecture – no one wanted her to do stuff, write reports or stand still for few hours in one place, and the topic’s complexity was enjoyably challenging.

There were five hours and eleven minutes left to her first expected appointment with Commander. She sighed again and stretched her limbs. What Commander wanted from her? What was the point in downloading data about animals? 34D had a big part of her memory stuffed with any report, article, book, film, picture or sound record she could obtain. 13O helped a lot here, giving her access to the Operators’ databases. It wasn’t technically against the rules, but 34D doubted Commander would be pleased if she had found out.

Anyway, she finally had some time for herself. It was a great opportunity to reboot her system, defragment some files and take a bath. Oh yes, a bath was something she needed most. She didn’t want to smell bad to Commander, and her hair really required some grooming. A short “nap” and off to the maintenance module then! Maybe she’ll figure out some answers there.

~

“Come in” said Commander and opened the door to her room. 34D stepped inside and saluted.

“34D reporting for duty!”

“Didn’t I tell you not to be so stiff in my message?” asked Commander with fake scowl. Her eyes sparkled with joy.

“Ah, uh… yes ma’am. Sorry” answered 34D, shifting her weight. She should have expected that, she knew, but it didn’t help. Commander was acting so differently here than when on the bridge… 34D could only guess a reason and she tried hard, but anything even slightly close to logical explanation was simply impossible. That was what she thought, at least.

“Alright, sit down. And relax, I’ll just tell you a story. Do you have the information about animals I asked you to collect?”

“Yes, I gathered as much intel as I could, but there was so little time…” _damn, now I’m complaining._ Only one day had passed since her promotion and she already grumbled. _Why are you like this, 34D?_ she asked herself internally. “…I-I mean, I wasn’t sure what kind of information you’d require, ma’am, so I tried to save everything 13O and I could find. I didn’t expect there would be so much data” she explained, rubbing the back of her head.

“You make use of your Operator already, good” said Commander and smiled. “I granted you permission to upload files to my terminal. Let’s see what you brought…”

34D connected to the terminal and started uploading. Considering how huge amounts of data she tried to transfer it would take a while. Commander noticed that, obviously, and her brows ascended slowly. “You copied an entire server?” she asked with disbelief.

“N-not really…” stuttered 34D sheepishly. “…only a part of it… and 13O did most of the hard work… and I needed memory enhancement, so she convinced 7S to borrow some chips from the maintenance for me, and…” her voice trailed off and her gaze lowered to her feet. Her explanation was met with silence. She managed to look Commander in the face somehow. Half of her unease changed into purest form of embarrassment instantly – Commander was on a verge of laughing openly. Her beautiful fair hair trembled along with her whole body as she kept her mouth shut forcefully. After a minute the blonde woman took few deep breaths and managed to calm down.

“I’m sorry 34D, I should’ve phrased it more precisely. Your commitment is praiseworthy, but there was no need to download half of YoRHa archives. Some basic information on biology and behavior would suffice, we won’t need…” she glanced on one of the monitors, where list of some of the uploaded files was displayed “…tardigrades cell membrane composition. I didn’t even know we have files like these…” she added with a scowl while reading more file names.

“I’m sorry ma’am” was all 34D was able to say.

“You don’t need to, I’m amazed in fact. Alright, while this is uploading, let me ask you only one question. But first, please, sit down already! You make me feel uneasy.”

“S-sorry ma’am” said 34D and clapped on a chair immediately, almost making it fall over. The idea of Commander feeling uneasy was hardly compatible with order of the Universe in her opinion.

“What was I… oh, right. Why, you think, I wanted you to study animals?” asked Commander, looking straight into 34D’s eyes.

“Well… At first I thought it was some kind of intel gathering test, but we have the Scanner units for that, and these meetings are to improve my social skills, so I believe that’s not the point after all” stated 34D and waited for response. Since there was none, she continued. “Then I deduced there is a reason for you to make me study organic life forms, animals to be precise.” She took a deep breath, hoping Commander would finally say something, _anything_ , but her superior remained silent, her smile widening slowly. “The connection between us and animals are humans. We were designed after their image, so to understand androids I should understand humans first. To understand humans I must know what drives them and makes them act the way they do, from both emotional and physiological side of their nature. And since the former is determined by the latter…” That was probably the most words she had ever said at once, maybe apart from her speech to BIDF the day before.

Commander seemed elated. Her eyes were wide opened, a broad grin lightening her face. There was something more in her eyes, too, an imperceptible spark, some kind of… no, 34D couldn’t figure out what was that. Not when Commander’s expression was something astonishing – she had never seen her chief like that before. “34D, do you now understand why I have chosen you to lead BIDF?”

“That’s a second question, ma’am” answered 34D flatly before she thought. Commander blinked, obviously dumbfounded. 34D blinked too and then it hit her. _What the hell, 34D? One does not simply catch on her commander’s words!_ Her heating system went overdrive, few alerts popped into her vision, but they disappeared as soon as she heard the most beautiful sound in the world.

Commander was laughing. Sincerely, with eyes closed, leaning on her chair, with one hand covering her face, while other rested on her stomach. Commander was laughing. 34D found her jaw dropped, but she really didn’t care at the moment. _Commander was laughing_. Stern, aloof ‘slave driver’, as some people called her, was trying to breath calmly and recover from sudden outburst of mirth.

 _34D.exe stopped working._ Or rather would stop if such file existed in the first place.

“You… heh, you’re right, 34D. And it’s a perfect answer” said Commander, suppressing her panting. “You’re clever, more than most combat models. Don’t hesitate to show it off sometimes, your people are watching you. You gave an excellent answer to my first question, too. Let us begin, alright?”

34D nodded and soon she was absorbed in the lecture. She knew bigger part of the information Commander shared with her, she had read the files after all, but she found listening to her superior far more fascinating than reading. Commander supplemented raw data with stories and her own memories, as well as some historical facts and technological terms. She readily answered any question 34D asked, and there were more than few of them. Four hours passed in a blink of an eye. 34D was surprised when her communicator beeped and 13O appeared on a holographic screen, demanding her officer to go back to work. Commander only smirked.

“We’ll continue later, let’s say… tomorrow, at the same time.”

“Yes ma’am” said 34D. “It… it was great to talk to you. Thank you” she added, her heating system accelerating again. Commander’s smirk warmed. 34D could swear she saw that intriguing spark in her eyes again, but it was gone after a single second.

“The pleasure is mine. Now go, your people need you.”

34D stood up, saluted and headed for the exit. She was almost outside, the door to Commander’s room already lifted, when her chief called her again. She turned around and found her superior standing no farther than half a meter away.

“And 34D… I told you more than once there’s no need to be so formal. I want you to enjoy our meetings as much as I want to help you communicate with others.” She brushed aside few hair streaks from redhead’s face and added quietly “Don’t shy away from me.”

34D opened her mouth, closed it, bowed lightly and left the room. After few steps she was actually running towards her quarters, her duties brushed aside for next few minutes. What was that?! Why would Commander do something so… intimate? And why the hell these damned overheat alerts kept appearing?!

When she collected herself enough to go back to work, her thoughts still revolved around Commander. She had to admit, that woman had the most beautiful laugh in the world. And hair. And eyes, those sparkling green eyes, and her figure was just alluring, and…

~

_I scared her away, didn’t I? Of course I did. Congratulations. Great work._ These and other sarcastic, bitter thoughts crossed Commander’s mind as she heard the steps hastily drifting away. 34D was literally running away from her, and it hurt. She sighed and closed the door, hoping no one had seen this pitiful scene. She didn’t mind the gossip that definitely would spawn as long as it didn’t impair missions, though she was afraid of 34D. Her display of affection could blight everything she had already done, and everything she had planned for future – her overwhelmingly adorable subordinate might distance herself from the others even more.

On the other hand they just casually chatted for almost four hours. The topics were not that casual, that’s true, but they had a pleasant conversation. 34D started to forget about calling her “ma’am” around second hour. Her expression drifted from blank at the beginning to curious at the end of the meeting. There was a progress, and it would hopefully survive Commander’s excess gestures.

 _But she’s so cute!_ Commander barely managed to suppress a squeal when an image of 34D’s shining eyes appeared in her mind. They were the same steel blue all D models had – YoRHa androids differed only by hair and voice within the series, considering the appearance alone. It was that spark of curiosity and intelligence that shew up sometimes, mostly when its owner forgot where she was and who she listened to. So vivid, so bright…

Commander sighed again, dropping on her bed. She tried really, really hard not to touch 34D. The moment she reached out her hand the battle was lost – she fell for the quiet redhead for good. What was even worse, her display of affection was most probably received falsely… or was it really? What 34D thought about her now? Was she scared? Disgusted maybe? Or quite opposite…? The answers she needed so bad could be obtained in about twenty hours, on their next meeting. Unless the suspense didn’t kill her first.

~

The next day 34D finally brought herself to call her Operator and ask her few questions. 13O was reliable, easygoing and seemed to have unlimited amounts of patience. Since 34D had never spoken to anyone about personal matters, decision to consult her Operator was a really big deal, but she forced herself to trust her – it was her duty to help her officer, after all… 13O picked the call almost immediately.

_“Hey 34D, what do you need?”_

“Um…” second thoughts hit her the moment she heard 13O’s voice. Operator was there to help her with missions and assignments, not with personal issues…

 _“Helloooo, anyone there? You finally called me, why don’t you say something? Or you just wanted to hear my tempting voice?”_ said 13O and giggled. _She’d be delighted to help me with Commander… sure, she’ll tease me, but she’ll help._

“I’m here, Operator. I… I have a personal request” said 34D and continued hurriedly “I’m sorry I use this channel for something like that and not for work, but… but if I don’t, it will have a negative impact on my efficiency.” Well, it was technically true.

_“Okaaaay… I didn’t expect something like that, not that I mind. I just thought you’re a lone wolf, that’s what I heard, that’s what I saw. And look at you, second day and second request for your lovely Operator! You do need me, I’m flattered! What can I help you with?”_

“Could you send me all information about our Commander you have access to?”

_“Sure thing, give me few minutes and you’ll know her bra size and first crush. But tell me, why the duck you need it? You wanna overthrow her and establish a bloody rule of terror? Oh, and you’ll make me wear sexy outfits and call you ‘empress’? If that’s your kink I know people who know people who-”_

“No! No that’s not it, why would you even…” interrupted 34D, beginning to regret calling the Operator at all. She’d never expect… this. “Uhh… never mind, just send me the files. It’s for research.”

_“Yeah, they always say ‘for research purposes’… I’ll send you the files to your mail. Just don’t have high hopes, I’m afraid there ain’t no nudes there.”_

“…34D out” she said flatly and broke connection. She inhaled deeply, making a lone overheat alert close. Saying her Operator’s imagination made her feel uneasy was an understatement. It took her few minutes to recover from emotional rollercoaster of embarrassment and wild visions caused by that short chat. Apparently, it was enough for 13O to prepare requested files and send them, with short _“ Happy ‘research’ :* ”_ attached to them. _This girl…_ 34D already felt exhausted – and the day was just beginning. She opened the first file from a surprisingly short list and started reading. High percentage of classified entries was puzzling. The measurements weren’t hidden, though… not that it mattered. Not a tiniest bit.

One hour later she closed the last file and let out a heavy sigh. What she learned left her with more questions than answers. Commander was on her position since the very foundation of YoRHa, she had been an active member of the Resistance, and that was basically all about her past – not even a single hint on what year she was made. It wasn’t that important, though. Commander was incredibly old and experienced. Hell, she was older than YoRHa itself! How much was that, five thousand years? Eight?

Apart from her age, few files covered her body specifications, but most of it was encrypted, and 34D knew better than to uncover classified intel. Everything she didn’t know she could ask directly at the source, and a great opportunity was only about twelve hours away. There was no guarantee she would receive any answers, but her resolve to try was unwavering. _Alright, back to work now_ she thought and left her room. She tried to focus on optimizing the RDS turrets placing, but her thoughts wandered towards her last meeting with Commander, especially to that gentle touch and soft, soft voice. Why did she act this way towards someone so much younger, and on the second day since they actually met? The blonde woman was much wiser than 34D, and considering how long she lived, the redhead must have looked like an infant to her.

She glanced at one of Bunker’s spotless windows and stopped her journey through the metal torus. The window was opening to a myriad of distant stars, Earth’s surface barely visible from that angle. Her reflection looked back, inspecting her intensely. She glanced over her utilitarian uniform, standard issue sword, heavy heeled boots, slim, yet muscular figure… _Full metal kid, that’s what I am._

~

34D stood before the Commander’s door. She couldn’t bring herself to push the call button. Last time she was here she ran away without a single word. Was Commander mad? She could be, her escape was rude after all. And what if she found out her guest was digging out information about her? 34D wouldn’t be pleased if, let’s say, 8H did something like that, the thought creeped her out – as much as she hated talking about herself, she’d rather answer personal questions directly.

The door opened suddenly, revealing Commander’s tall silhouette. 34D almost tripped on her own feet as she jumped back across the corridor.

“Oh, 34D, already here” said Commander, visibly surprised. “I was wondering where you are, come in.” She stepped back and invited her guest inside with a slight gesture.

“Uh… y-yes. S-sorry ma’am” stuttered 34D and entered the room. Her superior didn’t seem to be mad, that was a good start. Making a fool of herself by jumping around like some kind of startled animal didn’t help the redhead, though. They sat in front of each other, a bit closer than the day before.

“I hope you took my words to heart. Did you talk to anyone since yesterday?” asked Commander with a soft smile. There was something marginally off in her voice, but 34D couldn’t tell what. Anxiety? Worry?

“Yeah, and it wasn’t a good idea…” she muttered, lowering her gaze.

“Why, what happened?”

“Well… 13O has a wild imagination sometimes… I-I don’t want to talk about it.” She inhaled deeply, feeling the odious overheat alert surfacing to her vision again, and tried to suppress it. This became twice as hard when a crystal laugh invaded her ears.

“I’m sorry. I know 13O well and I thought assigning her to you would force you to open up faster. The real question is… does it work?” said Commander, wiping a single tear that appeared in corner of her pristine right eye. _Why do we even secrete tears?_ wondered 34D, but that thought left her mind as quickly as it appeared.

“You… have made fun of me?” she asked in disbelief. She wasn’t mad, she considered her small talk with 13O hilarious after all emotions faded. She just couldn’t imagine Commander to play pranks, especially on this scale.

“I… no, I… well, maybe a little bit, but 13O’s straightforwardness is something I did hope to break through your shell. Though I should’ve warned you earlier, I suppose” explained her superior with a sheepish smile. “Are you mad?”

“Wha-… n-no! No, I’m not mad at all! Besides, I’m not in position to be mad at you in the first place, ma’am!” shouted 34D. Commander’s apologetic look, combined with slightly tilted head led that damned alert back to the foreground.

“And that’s where you’re wrong. Being my subordinate doesn’t forbid you to have your own opinions about me, or have certain feelings.” Commander was back to her collected self. “What did 13O tell you, by the way? Your reaction is beyond interesting, to be honest.”

“I-I _really_ don’t want to talk about it.”

“Alright, but if she ever causes you any troubles you should tell me. She’s there to help you, not the opposite.”

“No, she’s a great help! It’s just… I mean, we have different ways of living, that’s all. She’s doing great work, today she found and sent all the files I wanted in no time and wanted to introduce me to people and…” 34D closed her mouth instantly, hoping she didn’t blurt out too much. Commander noticed her slip and frightened look immediately, and her brow jumped up few millimeters.

“Oh… and what kind of files did you request this time? I didn’t ask you to do any research, and all files regarding your everyday tasks are already on the BIDF server…” asked Commander with a smirk. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, I’m just c-”

“I wanted to know more about you!” interrupted 34D. Now or never. She grew super curious about Commander’s past and everything else about her, and now was the best opportunity to ask. The alert found himself a companion, but she didn’t care. She was here to overcome her barriers, right? To express her emotions and wishes, right?! Something as trivial as few alerts or dying from embarrassment shouldn’t stop her.

She realized she closed her eyes, awaiting for any kind of response. She opened her left eye slowly, since none came. Her right eye followed and she observed Commander sitting still, with an absolute stupefaction on her face. They both blinked once and after few painfully long seconds the blonde finally cleared her throat and spoke up.

“Oh… hmmm, I… understand, I guess. You can ask me about almost anything. No need to search through the archives, really.” She looked caught off guard, but was recollecting herself quickly. “So, 34D, what do you want to know about me?”

There were hundreds of questions 34D wanted to ask at once, but first she had to make the alerts go away. She felt a little dizzy, the overheat appearing to be a real problem, but few deep breaths restored satisfactory body temperature.

Commander’s reaction was a huge relief. 34D feared the blonde wouldn’t want to talk about herself, and she could perfectly understand it. Why she was so resolved to learn about Commander was still to be discovered, though.

“You’re not a YoRHa android, right? You don’t have a number, so… what’s your name?”

Commander raised her brow again, expecting some other question apparently. She smiled and answered softly.

“My name is White. I hope you’ll call me that from now on, 34D”

34D lowered her gaze at first, embarrassed, but managed to look Commander in the eyes.

“If that’s what pleases you… White.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I did some fixes to this and previous chapters. Now that all the excessively time consuming paperwork and formalities with my uni are finished I _really_ don't have anything of life importance to do, so I'll write much faster, expect the next chapter in few days. See you then!**


	4. Un[ V ]eiling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Writing this chapter was fun, but posting it is kind of awkward. I hope you'll enjoy!**

__

~ three weeks later ~

A sword passed her face by less than a centimeter. She did a backflip and set her barrier just in time – another blade recoiled on it, unable to cut her head off. She pushed forward, delivering a flurry of vicious slashes to her opponent. Most of them were parred or evaded, but the last one connected.

A red light lighted up, announcing the end of the sparring. 34D helped her training partner get up and supported her on their way to 8H. Daily trainings with blunted weapons were a great way to learn more about swordsmanship as well as other members of BIDF. 8H had little work since they didn’t really cut each other, but she insisted on checking on fighters’ status after each sparring. She was caring even for a Healer…

34D found the trainings amazing. They posed a great opportunity to socialize, yet didn’t require much talking – their weapons and eyes did mouths’ job. She already felt she truly belonged to this small unit of outcasts. Yes, they were outcasts – never descending on Earth surface, always standing somewhere without apparent purpose… They were the ones who were always up in the Bunker, an element of the structure’s animate background. No one really paid any attention to them, excluding the maintenance staff – they considered them a pain.

34D grew to like her unit. They stuck together, even if they talked rarely. They were competent, obeyed orders quickly and without questions, but shew initiative whenever it was needed… to put it simple, a perfect team. And they had one of the best Healers in YoRHa, which made them proud.

Their teamwork was complimented by Commander several times – she even said BIDF had never been so efficient and well prepared for every possibility. 34D indeed created hundreds of plans, plugged several holes in Bunker’s defenses, and burdened 7S with countless tests and adjustments to station’s firewalls. Every praise from the blonde made her try harder and harder to obtain another one. Her team didn’t complain – she pushed herself even harder than them, and it didn’t remain unnoticed. She was not aware of it, but most of the BIDF members honestly admired their reclusive officer.

Her trips to White’s quarters were not a secret, but all existing gossips seemed to evade the unit. Its members acknowledged 34D didn’t want to (or wasn’t allowed to) talk about the meetings, so they didn’t ask, and whispering behind her back was beneath them. That was something 34D was most grateful for.

She indeed did not intend to talk about the visits with anyone. They transformed smoothly from lectures to casual talks about art, history, astronomy, and even philosophy. 34D read huge parts of YoRHa “common knowledge” archives in her spare time now, so they always had new topics to cover. Last few meetings changed into movie nights, with snacks and booze and everything, just like in the Old World. They called them “cultural enrichment sessions”, which sounded extremely funny to the tipsy women. Until then, 34D had had no idea an android-friendly counterpart of alcohol existed. She was even more surprised White had something like that in her room, but after few thoughts she found it obvious – White was Commander after all, she could have _anything_ in her huge wardrobe.

~

34D was on her way to their next meeting. Perspective of spending next few hours in Commander’s room made her excited and a bit giddy now. Every visit was like a new adventure, new journey through White’s personality, and she just couldn’t wait to go on another one. And another one. And another…

But she didn’t really sign up for surprises like the one awaiting her behind the Commander’s door. First alarm ringed in the back of her head when the door opened just before she touched the call button. Second one followed almost immediately when she saw the interior was completely darkened.

“Hello? Commander?” she asked quietly, glanced to her sides to confirm no one was in sight and stepped inside.

The door shut right behind her with a small hiss, and 34D was left in absolute darkness – even the room’s only window was covered somehow, not letting stars’ faint light inside. Her combat sensors switched on as sublime code and years of training triggered her basic instincts, and she almost started to swing her sword around like crazy when she heard a loud “Surprise!” and the lights turned on.

A small cloud of what looked like confetti settled on her head and shoulders. White was standing before her with a wide grin on her face and laugh in her eyes. A colorful cone of what resembled a 'party hat' was resting on her head, cheekily tilted to the side.

No other word could describe 34D’s stupefaction better than 'extreme'.

Few seconds after all the confetti ceased to twirl in its slow descend, she managed to collect herself enough to utter a single word.

“…what?”

White’s cheerful grin changed into something more sheepish, but remained glued to her face. “Well… you’re not the only one who dig through the archives” she said. “I managed to learn what was the exact date of when you were manufactured and, regarding to the Gregorian calendar, today’s anniversary of that event. As you know, humans celebrated anniversaries of their birth, so why shouldn’t we do the same?”

34D processed the new information. She didn’t know the date of her “birth” and, frankly, she didn’t care. Still, idea of celebrating was alluring, and idea of celebrating together with White was simply irresistible. Besides, Commander searched for some info about _her,_ was thinking about _her,_ prepared all of this for _her…_ The overheat alert, almost forgotten, came back with full force.

“34D? 34D, are you okay?” she heard as her shoulders were caught in a calming grip. She looked up right into White’s worried face and smiled, inhaling deeply.

“Yes, gods yes, I couldn’t be better!” she almost shouted and wrapped her arms around White’s waist, catching her in a crushing hug. Her face found itself pressed against Commander’s neck, allowing her to smell blonde’s sweet, subtle scent. She felt White was caught off guard, but eventually reciprocated, tightening their embrace.

They stood like that for few minutes, enjoying each other’s closeness. 34D wished for this moment to last forever, especially since White began to gently stroke her hair, but she was curious what more her host prepared for celebration, thus she broke the hug and spoke, even though she couldn’t find right words.

“White, thank you so much, I-I don’t even know what to say, I… you…” she started, but a mischievous smirk bending White’s beautiful lips made her stop. “You really have something more planned, don’t you?” It was a statement rather than a real question.

“Of course. I remember how much you enjoyed animated movies, so I have a whole marathon prepared. And your Operator provided me a concoction of her own recipe, and that’s the best out there… oh, and don’t let her know that you know, she’s really shy about it.”

“13O? Shy? And you expect me to believe you?” laughed 34D. “You’re incredible, you know?” she added, grinning like crazy. She never thought she was able to smile so widely and so often.

“Yes, I’m awesome, I’m aware of that” answered White with faux arrogance. “Alright, let the fun begin!”

They rested on her bed, as usually, facing terminal’s ginormous monitors. The first film appeared on the central bottom one, and the lights were reduced to a faint glimmer. 34D suspected that all room’s internal systems were controlled remotely by White’s thoughts only, but she was always forgetting to ask about it.

~

After four movies and three bottles of 13O’s suspicious mixture 34D found herself unexpectedly vigorous. She enjoyed the movies, and position with her head resting on White’s thigh was more than comfortable, but she longed for some kind of movement. She stood up, earning herself a questioning look. “Hey White… let’s dance!” she said without thinking. The room was narrow, and their coordination was severely impaired, but none of this mattered right now.

Soft music played from room’s audio system the moment her words left her throat, and she was suddenly spun several times, which caused her vision to blur completely. She felt her body locked in a tight embrace, with her partner’s right hand on her waist while her right palm found White’s left one, their fingers intertwining. Commander was leading, and they swung to and fro around the room, their bodies connected from hips to breastbones.

“I don’t know if you like foxtrot, but that’s my personal number one” White whispered in 34D’s ear.

“…mine too, since today” she answered with her face buried in White’s shoulder. Her left hand ran up her partner’s spine, finishing its path with fingers combing blond hair. She lifted her head so their cheeks connected, and she whispered right into White’s ear. “This is the best day in my entire life, you know? I’m so happy you gave me this promotion, so happy you help me open up to people… so happy you have shown me all these incredible things…”

Gentle sounds from the speakers and dim light made a perfect background, calming and cozy like an eiderdown, separating them from the Bunker, the war, the entire world. She didn’t notice they stopped dancing and just stood still in a tight embrace. White’s right palm brushed 34D’s jaw and their foreheads met, supporting each other softly. Their eyes were closed, but they didn’t need them. “…so happy I can be with you right now” finished her thought 34D. She felt White’s gentle touch on her cheek, her every breath, her other hand softly caressing her lower back…

“The pleasure is mine.”

Their lips met and 34D forgot about BIDF, 13O, movies, mankind and her own limbs – the only thing remaining was the sweet, sweet kiss. Next thing she perceived was a soft bed where they rested, still embracing each other. More kisses followed and 34D lost herself in them completely.

~

White was lying in her bed and stared in a polymer-coated ceiling above her. 34D was sleeping at her side with right leg wrapping around White’s one, and her right hand resting on White’s chest. She mechanically fondled her companion’s hip while thoughts circled around in her mind intensely.

She felt amazing. Her mind was clear, her body relaxed. How long had it been since the last time she was this close with anyone, physically and emotionally? Hundreds of years? Thousands? YoRHa consumed all of her time, attention and energy, countless operations switched her to autopilot, making her feel numb, feel like… like a _machine._ But the feelings towards certain socially awkward redhead, awakened barely two months ago, recalled everything she truly was, took off the mask of Commander and revealed White – movie lover, biology enthusiast… an incredibly lonely woman, subconsciously longing for affection for far too long.

It was perfect, too perfect. 34D was hers, life in the Bunker went on lazily, and ground units reported success after success. Everything went so smoothly she started to fear it was only some kind of an over-realistic dream. If her incredibly long life had taught her something, it was that things never go as planned for too long. She almost saw the first signs of change, and not of a pleasant one.

In fact, the signs were already clearly visible – first talking machines, then those weird humanoid ones 2B and 9S encountered in the desert… oh yes, these were truly concerning. From visual data recovered from the recon team she deduced the white-haired machines’ constitution was similar to if not the same as YoRHa androids’. They talked, bled, learned… Their lack of visible actions was even more unsettling.

White sighed and kissed the top of 34D’s head. _Later. I’ll think about it later._ For now she had enough time to just laze around together with her cute… girlfriend? She smiled to herself as 34D moved slightly in her sleep and snuggled even closer. _Yes, girlfriend indeed._

~

Huge main screen in the Bunker’s command post displayed a slightly blurry transmission from the City Ruins. Operators’ fingers were running through their keyboards with lightning speed, and their dispatches were spoken fast, with no unnecessary chatting. The Operators were the only ones whose gazes were not fixed on the main screen – half of BIDF, few recovering soldiers and YoRHa Commander carefully followed a hellish battle that took place hundreds of kilometers below them.

Two Goliath class machine life forms were in the same area where the other ones had appeared. And the only two units that had some serious firepower and able to react quickly had no access to flight units – they were on their way, but they couldn’t land just anywhere, while the Goliaths were leveling building after building, paying little attention to Resistance’s low caliber weapons.

After few long, suspenseful minutes 2B and 9S managed to disable one of Goliaths and reached the flight units. Everyone present in the command post let out a sigh of relief, even few cheers were heard. The battle was not over, though – two relatively small windows appeared in the top right corner of the screen, showing the battle from respective flight units’ perspective. The ground team rushed to the second enormous machine and with support of flight units’ overpowered equipment, took it down with little effort.

This time even Commander exhaled audibly. Everyone began to relax when suddenly the finally steady image of the battlefield flashed. The Engels recharged itself in its ultimate desperate move, emitting powerful EM waves that severed the connection with the Bunker. The screen went from striking white to black in less than a second, and a YoRHa logo appeared short after.

“Operators, restore the connection imme-” Commander started to form her order, but the station’s bridge was abruptly bathed in red as a huge alert was displayed on the main monitor. Everyone held their breath and a complete silence fell, broken by beeping from the speakers system only.

**\- ALIEN -**

The side panels of the screen turned on again and shew a massive cavity in the middle of the City Ruins, where the second Engels apparently detonated itself.

“Unbelievable… The aliens who haven’t revealed themselves in hundreds of years… were hiding underground?!” Commander’s quiet voice set everyone in motion – the keyboards were tapped, few soldiers rushed off the bridge, and a certain officer approached her slowly.

34D stopped at Commander’s side and joined her in her silent train of thoughts. They both stared at the word steadily crossing the screen.

“It’s a beginning of a new era, isn’t it?” asked the redhead in a flat manner.

“Yes, it is indeed” answered the blonde with the same lack of emotions. They were calm – the Operators and other YoRHa soldiers seemed to be more agitated than ever, but the duo just stood there. Their minds were set to planning mode, hundreds of strategies and possibilities already forming in their heads.

“We need the Bunker prepared for literally anything” said Commander.

“You know you can count on me, ma’am” answered the officer.

“We won’t have much time for each other” added White quietly.

“Let’s make this time as exciting as possible, then” said 34D with a sly smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I'm sorry, I just like to finish a chapter with a dialogue. So yeah, that's it. Half written, half to go! I think I'll upload the next chapter in two or three days. Until then, farewell!**


	5. First D[ E ]scend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Time for some soap opera... I hope you don't mind, I just need this for 7th chaper's sake.**   
>  **EDIT: Okay, worrying about it is pointless. Writing this chapter was fun after all .-.**

“I already said it, it’s out of question!”

“I’m telling you, it’s the best what I can do right now!”

“I’m not having the Bunker without its defense commanding officer and her best people! Period!”

“There’s no need for us to sit on our asses while YoRHa soldiers die down there! Aren’t we actually winning this war?!”

“Us having upper hand doesn’t mean you can play hero and fly around! There are many searching teams on Earth alrea-”

“It’s not about playing hero! It’s… ugh, you just don’t listen to reason! And you dare to call yourself our commander?!”

Operators, who were silently observing until now, held their breaths, and 13O was on the verge of fainting. Two women, one blonde and one redhead, quarreled for some good five minutes already. The Operators tried to focus on their work, but when raised voices turned into shouts it ceased to be a possibility. At first the clash was funny, then disturbing – now everyone present wished to be literally anywhere but on the bridge.

Commander’s jaw dropped in disbelief. Her already stern and intransigent expression turned into pure fury.

“MIND YOUR WORDS, SOLDIER!”

34D, who stared boldly right into Commander’s eyes until now, backed off and visibly shrunk.

“…I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“It doesn’t matter what you meant. Now you go to maintenance module and have _all_ of your systems checked twice. Next you go to your Operator and ask her to prepare your schedule that includes your cleaning duty. Dismissed.” Commander’s voice was calm and quiet, but as cold as if soaked in liquid oxygen. 34D stretched like a string, saluted, and ran from the bridge without a word.

13O watched her ward leave and sighed heavily. When Commander assigned her to watch over BIDF she thought her work would be easy – not much intel to process, no ground operations, and she was always near so she could just go and see in person what was going on, talk to the officer in charge. Speaking of which… 13O would never expect to have such a troublesome officer to care for. 34D was a reclusive person, but demanded tons of attention at the same time – there were always some files to download, some connections to establish, some people to talk to… and now _this._

She looked at Commander, but the blonde was already at her usual spot, giving orders to some soldiers via her communicator. 13O was always amazed just how well her superior controlled her emotions, going from furious to calm in less than a minute. Commander surely took to heart this “not being emotional” rule. She decided to wait few hours and call 34D when her systems check session ended.

~

34D stepped outside the maintenance module and directed herself to her room. She needed some sleep. _No, not really._ She decided to call 13O instead – what she really needed was her new schedule and something strong enough to make her black out. The Operator picked up almost immediately.

_“Oh, I was just about to call you, 34D! What can I do for you?”_

“You have that damned schedule already?” asked 34D bluntly.

_“Yeah, got it done right after you left. 34D…?”_

“Yes?”

_“What the fuck?”_

“…”

34D expected this question. Hell, she had asked that herself hundred times already, but the answer was too complicated for her to be found. She was right, she knew it, but it wasn’t a valid reason to undermine her superior’s authority. Or to piss off her dearest friend. Her _girlfriend._ She had never felt more awful.

“I just wanted to help. 12C Hunter squadron suffered heavy losses in that last battle, so I thought I could go down there and search for their missing members… Maybe we’d be able to find some sailors from the carrier too… ugh, why am I telling you this now, you probably heard everything.”

_“…yeah, I had had to be deaf not to hear you two screaming at each other. Sweetie, the guys in the server room could hear you. Maybe some Resistance dudes too…”_

“Yeah, we were loud, I get it. But you can see my point, right? We let our potential go to waste! 8H is a friggin’ healing genius, and there are hundreds of wounded down there! And if I go to Earth I might be able to actually _see a machine!_ How can I protect the Bunker with no practical knowledge about our enemy?!”

_“You’re shouting again, dear. As you said literally seconds ago, you had been loud. I ain’t retarded, I got it all. And I agree with you, but what can I do, I’m only a simple Operator with a shitty job… no offense.”_

“None taken. I really make your life hard, don’t I?”

_“Nah, could be worse. I could be assigned to some girl that runs around, swinging her sword to right and left, expends entire containers of ammo and gets herself almost killed on daily basis. I could be 6O.”_

“Hah, I guess you’re right.” A faint smile appeared on 34D’s face for the first time since her argument with Commander. 13O was quite an opposite of 34D, but they grew to like and trust each other. Their differences allowed them to see problems from different angles, and they supported each other not only because of their jobs, but also because of their mutual fondness. 13O might be exuberant and bold, but she was caring and always knew how to buoy her officer up.

_“No shit I am! 2B is hot and crazy, you’re hot and clever. Not that hard to guess who got it better, eh? Now stop lazing around and bring that tight ass here so I can get rid of that damned schedule!”_

“Can’t you just send it to my mailbox like always?” asked 34D with pained voice. She’d rather jump off the Bunker and try not to get burnt in the Earth’s atmosphere than go to the bridge right now.

_“You always make me send you stuff and never come to see me! I can’t even recall your face!”_

“It’s the same all D units have…”

_“That’s not the point! Where’s my gratitude kiss?! I got some good news by the way, and you should hear them in person. Commander’s order.”_

34D’s heart sank the moment her superior was mentioned. On the other hand 13O said “good news”, so it couldn’t be _that_ bad… She braced herself and moved on to the bridge. An order is an order.

“Okay, I’m coming.”

 _“I mentioned good news and she’s coming. I want a pat on my head and all I get is a cold shoulder! 13O out.”_ Operator’s pout was obviously faux – 34D could _hear_ her grinning. She smiled to herself and sped up. She didn’t need booze after all.

~

34D entered the command post and rushed to 13O’s spot. Commander was not present, apparently, which lowered her anxiety by few levels.

“I’m here, Operator. What do you have for me?”

“Took your time, didn’t ya?” asked 13O and winked. “Commander wants you to report at her quarters, pronto. Man, I feel bad for you right now…” Her tone was grave, but her eyes gave away everything. She was barely keeping her face straight.

“Alright 13O, now it’s my turn to ask ‘what the fuck?’ I’m serious now, just tell me why you look like losing it.” 34D was tired of her Operator’s games, and she knew her well enough to see when she was pulling her officer’s leg. Not that it wasn’t obvious this time.

“Okay, okay, chill. I’ve never seen her face so flat and emotionless. She was either pissed off beyond imagination or really confused. And she ordered me to organize you an area to search for sailors, so…”

“She WHAT?!” shouted 34D, earning herself some curious looks from other Operators. That didn’t make sense at all. Her eyes were covered by visor, but 13O could tell she was goggling.

“Yeah, you, 8H and 7S are going down there. To a duckin’ beach, I’m jealous!” Operator’s mask did a poor job hiding her grin. “What the hell is going on between you and Commander by the way? No one had ever yelled at her like you did and lived long enough to tell the tale, and you go to her-”

“None of your business!” cut 34D a little too nervously. She realized it and averted her eyes instinctively. Another false move… 13O’s brows almost reached her hairline.

“Riiiiight… yeah, you might be right after all, I don’t even want to know now. But you do realize you make my mind go wild, ain’t ya?”

“That’s… that’s your problem, not mine” said 34D, pinching the bridge of her nose. She sighed and shook her head. “I’d better go now” she added and turned around.

“Oh, and your schedule is in your mailbox!” followed her as she approached the bridge door. She stopped for a second, sighed, shook her head and moved on, not looking back.

“Why you love messing around so much, Operator?” she muttered to herself. Yes, 13O was a great friend, but she was a real pain sometimes.

~

“Come in” sounded from behind the door as it lifted, and 34D obeyed immediately. Her anxiety was on a level unseen since her first time in the Commander’s room. All her fears and self-esteem issues returned with full force, accompanied by _a motherf… overheat alert._ She thought she was over it…

“At ease, 34D. I believe you have spoken to your Operator, so you must have many questions” said White with a flat expression. She was sitting in her armchair, her legs crossed and fingers intertwined. She didn’t move at all.

“That’s true, ma’am” answered 34D with shaking voice. She had no clue what her superior was thinking, why she changed her mind after what had happened only few hours earlier.

“After calmly reconsidering all pros and cons of your request, I decided it’s actually a solid plan, resulting in few dangers and many possible advantages. You have twenty four hours to prepare yourself, 8H and 7S for the search-and-rescue mission. 13O will be your contact with the Bunker and mission coordinator” explained Commander. She sighed and added “That probably answers at least few of them.”

“…yes, Commander” confirmed 34D, totally dumbstruck. The _what the hell_ was covered, the _why the hell_ still remained. She recalled her words and emotions that accompanied them and felt ashamed again. She had never truly considered White unreasonable, and had no doubt in her leadership. She admired her girlfriend and still wondered how lucky she was to get to know her so well, to spend so much time with her, to be able to hug her, kiss her… And she lashed out at White because she wasn’t allowed to abandon her post. What kind of partner… no, what kind of _person_ does something like that?!

“I apologize, Commander. I should never let my emotions speak for me, especially on the bridge” she managed to cough up through tightened throat. Tears of guilt appeared in the corners of her eyes, soaking her visor slightly.

“Apology accepted. Similar behavior cannot be tolerated in future, though. I hope that was the last time.”

“Definitely, ma’am. Thank you.”

Commander sighed again allowed a bitter smile to appear on her face. “I guess I’m not a good leader if I have to force my authority…”

“That’s not true! You’re the greatest leader ever! I...” started 34D, but hesitated. She had said something quite opposite only few hours ago… “I’m really sorry I let my emotions take control, that… that was low.”

“Indeed, but you actually had a point” answered White and averted her eyes. “I, on the other hand… I was much worse.”

“Why? You were thinking about YoRHa, you always have a bigger picture in mind, that’s-“

“No, I did not!” interrupted the blonde, leaving 34D with mouth opened wide. White’s look was filled with self-loathing. “I…” she started, but shook her head. She opened her mouth again, but closed it.

34D inspected her expression thoroughly and raised her brow. What she saw was embarrassment, anxiety, even cringe. She had never seen White _cringe._ “What do you mean?” she asked quietly.

“I… you see, it sounds extremely cheesy, but…” started the blonde again, sighed and finally collected herself. “I was worried about you.”

34D felt her circulatory system go nuts. Yes, it sounded cheesy, and it was a dumb excuse, even while no excuse was actually needed. Though embarrassed, Commander was so cute none of it mattered. This adorable sight was just too much. She approached the blonde and leaned forward slightly, just to level their eyes. “You know I can handle myself” she said softly. She felt their “Commander-officer talk” was over the moment White abandoned her stern expression, she could act like an equal again. She took off her visor and allowed White to look directly into her steel blue eyes.

“Of course I know that! That’s exactly the… I order everyone to stay cool, not to get attached, not to let their emotions out… and look at me. I contradict myself, and hypocrisy is something I hate! I realized you were right, and it hurt. So I snapped, and that’s unforgivable! I-”

White’s ranting was abruptly interrupted by soft lips sealing her own in a gentle kiss. Her first reflex was to tense up, but she let her muscles relax and her eyes close. She felt 34D sitting on her lap and pressing her body against hers. White embraced her girlfriend’s waist and she felt arms wrapping around her shoulders. Her mind cleared, all guilt and self-loathing gone away.

They stayed in the close embrace for few minutes, stroking each other’s hair, kissing passionately. What they had spoilt with words, now were desperately trying to fix with actions. When their lips parted, they were both calm, ready for the real talk, free of apologies and guilt.

“White, I’m happy you were worried about me, but I’m literally _designed_ to fight. It’s my purpose to engage in combat” stated 34D with a gentle smile.

“I’m aware of that, but it doesn’t change how I feel” answered the blonde. “You were always here in the Bunker, safe from the hellish war that rages on the surface… Whenever I imagine you down there I see you getting hurt, I-I… I know we have your memory backup, but I don’t want you to suffer nonetheless.”

“I understand, I really do. And thank you for letting me go to Earth anyway, it’s really important to me. You made one of my dreams come true.” 34D stared into green eyes and caressed their owner’s neck with her fingertips. White gasped as the redhead shifted her hips to get into more comfortable position. “You actually made most of my dreams come alive”.

They kissed again, their hands wandering around their bodies. Suddenly 34D broke the kiss and let out a small giggle. White looked at her in confusion, tilting her head.

“You _really_ suck at not getting emotional” whispered the redhead.

~

“Units 34D, 8H and 7S request permission for takeoff.”

“Permission granted” answered the dock supervisor. “Kick some metal asses down there, officer!”

“…will do. Later!” Docks crew knew BIDF members well, it was one of the best guarded place in the entire Bunker after all. They had become even closer since 34D’s promotion, as she emphasized cross-section cooperation.

The trio flew through the dock’s opened gate and set a course on one of the Pacific Ocean’s coasts. Their flight units were set to position themselves optimally, and so they did while entering Earth’s lower parts of atmosphere, but the sight of a thin energetic barrier, set ablaze by enormous friction only about a meter or two from 34D’s face made her shiver. She was amazed by how sublime and precisely made the flight units were. No wonder why they were so expensive…

Soon they pierced the sparse clouds and regarded a vast blue surface, glittering in sunlight. 34D inhaled deeply, smelling real, natural air for the first time. _So that’s Earth… so beautiful…_

“We’ll reach the coast in three and a half minutes. Our LZ coordinates are marked on the map” reported 7S.

“Thank you” said 34D and called the Bunker. “34D to Operator 13O, do you copy?”

_“13O to 34D, I hear you clearly.”_

“We reached the surface and head to the LZ, ETA three minutes and twenty seconds. No enemies sighted. I’ll report again after establishing rendezvous point on the land.”

_“Roger that. Good luck there. 13O out.”_

That was it. They were finally on Earth. She had seen many pictures, videos, even VR simulations, but the real experience was… exhilarating. She was used to Bunker’s artificial illumination, odorless, still air and constant temperature and humidity. The wind, the smell of the ocean, the warm sunrays, everything on Earth was so vivid, so intense. She was already getting addicted to it, and was resolved to come back to the surface as soon as possible.

Maybe some time in the future… if they manage to defeat the machines once and for all… they might move here with White. They would descend on this incredible world and make it their home. Together.


	6. Castawa[ Y ]'s Diary

Day 1  
I’m a seaman from a carrier that was deployed on the Pacific Ocean and destroyed by God knows what. If anyone finds this diary, take it to nearest Resistance camp or give it to YoRHa or whatever. I was washed ashore few hours ago and I think I’m MIA now. Shit, I got sand everywhere. I have no idea where the hell I am, the Flooded City is huge and it looks the same everywhere. There’s no signal from anyone. Or maybe my communicator is broken, I don’t know. Good enough that my notebook survived, so at least I can write. I already gathered some wood and leaves, so I can make some shelter. Gotta do it fast, a rain is coming.

I ended up in one of the destroyed buildings instead. No need to waste good wood on a shack when I can make a bonfire with it. There are no machines here, but I don’t wanna face any wild animals. The fire will help me keep them away.

Day 2  
Still no signal. I think my communicator really is broken, no way I’m 1000 kilometers from the nearest Resistance camp or warship, the Flooded City ain’t THAT big.

I secured some crates from our carrier, that were washed ashore nearby. Most of it are some spare parts but there’s also one with MG ammo. Now I need only the machinegun itself and can go shooting steel asses again.

I made myself a one-man fortress out of this building. Not that there’s any real threat here, only some crabs and seagulls. Lots of seagulls. I was preoccupied with making myself safe, but now that I have some time to think… What the hell was that huge ass machine that blew our carrier?! I remember shooting some flyers when the carrier was literally taken to the sky and chopped in half like a stick. Flames were everywhere and I was thrown into the ocean by explosions. All I saw was that our ship, a fucking 500 meters ship was being eaten by a ginormous fish-like machine that emerged from beneath. Real nightmare fuel.

Day 4  
Now that I think about it, humans have it really bad. We androids don’t need food or water, we have that funny reactor thingy inside that makes us live. If I had to worry about eating and drinking, and not getting cold at night, I’d be probably dead already. A friend of mine once told me that humans can survive only about 4 days without water, and they can’t drink saltwater because… I didn’t really get it, but it messes with their guts and they actually dehydrate even more.

Today I found a dead sailor on the shore. Poor guy was lying about 15 kilometers from my base. He had half of his body blown off, probably during the explosion. He had his dog tags on tho, so I made a photo of them, it’s in this notebook. I took them with me of course, but what if I never make it to the Resistance…

Day 5  
I found another sailor, but this one’s alive! He was lying under a rock in one of the buildings, it had collapsed on him I think. He’s unconscious, so I have no clue what’s his name or rank, but I think he’s an officer, his uniform looks way more fancy than mine. It did in the past at least, now it’s awfully torn and dirty. I can’t recognize his face too, he’s severely burnt. I brought him to my place and provided first aid, but there ain’t much I can do. I managed to stop the bleeding.

Day 7  
Two days passed and the officer guy doesn’t wake up. I’d hate to bury him. Now that he’s in my base I can’t go search for someone to help, I don’t want him to be alone. I already got sure there ain’t no living soul in at least 20 kilometers radius anyway. Apart from the seagulls, that is. I’ve found some supplies from our ship tho, and there was even a working machinegun among them. Now I really feel safe.

Sitting on my ass whole day is boring as hell. There ain’t nothing to do, and I can’t even shoot seagulls ‘cause I can’t waste ammo. I have a full crate of this shit, but what if there’s a huge machine offensive coming and I’ll be the Resistance’s first line of defense? You never know what’s coming, right? And speaking of seagulls, I used to like them, they were a sign that land’s not far away, that there’ll be rum and girls and just few hours of relax. Now they piss me off like nothing else. They steal my supplies, shit everywhere and don’t let me sleep. Fucking white flying rats.

Day 8  
I’m slowly loosing hope. Like, really. Is this my life now? Will I become a fucking hermit with a machinegun and an unconscious guy, living in a ruined building till the end of my days? I want to see my friends from the carrier, I want to see ANYONE! God, if you listen, please just let someo THE ALMIGHTY DUDE FUCKING LISTENS!!! He sent His angels from the heavens above to rescue His puny sheep! Three YoRHa flight units fucking flew above me like five seconds ago and they landed nearby I go to them now

They even brought a fucking Healer. The officer dude is safe now, they patched him up and gave him huge dose of some fancy healing shit. The Healer girl, a black haired one, examined me too, but I’m quite good apparently.

They came here to search for castaways like myself. Two girls and one boy, all in stylish YoRHa uniforms with blindfolds and everything. I always wondered how they can see anything through them, and it comes out it’s something like super advanced goggles. Everything they have is super advanced. Anyway, the redhead girl is their officer, 34D. She’s quiet, but confident. She orders me around, but If I can help in any way, I’ll do anything for her. They’re my saviors, my angels after all. The Healer is 8H, and she’s so kind and caring I can’t even describe it! And the boy is 7S, and he’s smart. Like, really smart. He took one of their flight units few minutes ago to secure the route to nearest Resistance camp, so they can get us there. Man, I still can’t believe I’m being rescued just like that.

They got some message from the Bunker about destroying machines’ network and that they have to go back up there. 34D shouted to her communicator for a minute and it appears they’ll get us to the camp first. Yes, they’re taking the officer from his bedding. That’s it, we’re going home! This is my last entry then, unless something shitty happens on our way to the camp.

Nope, everything went good, we’re safe now. The people here are saying some weird shit about the machines going berserk and wiping out whole battalions of our men, but it’s over now. They prepare some kind of a huge offensive, but I’ll learn about it later. Maybe I’ll continue writing this diary, it’s calming. And I think I’ll join land forces, I don’t wanna see a single fucking seagull ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I decided to change rating to 'mature' since I know what's coming, and I figure not everyone would agree it's suitable for sixth-graders. Just in case.**


	7. Gl[ O ]ry to mankind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **I'm sorry I haven't updated this work for a month or so, it was way too long. I had many other fascinating things to do (which may or may not include modding the hell out of Skyrim), and I was on vacation with no Internet access for over a week, so... yeah. This chapter is almost 5k words, which is actually kinda long comparing it to >14k words for previous 6 chapters combined, so I feel the delay is justified ^^**

They returned to the Bunker at top speed. The moment 34D landed inside and could escape her flight unit she jumped to the nearest dock worker and shouted right into her face.

“What’s going on? What do they mean by ‘machines’ network destroyed’? Why we didn’t have contact with our Operator?!”

“Wait, wait! Calm down! Stop shaking me!”

“Oh. Oh gods, sorry!” apologized 34D and released woman’s shoulders. 8H and 7S approached them, but remained silent, the only reason being the fact their questions were already spoken out loud.

“Thank you. The answers are: I don’t really know, I have no idea, and everyone tried to call the Bunker simultaneously, so the communication channels simply didn’t make it. You should probably go see Commander in person, she’ll tell you everything. You’re _you_ after all…” she added with a smirk. 34D rolled her eyes and rushed towards the bridge, giving only a curt “thanks”.

The trio entered the bridge half a minute later. They had to stop right after stepping off the elevator – the room was crowded more than ever. In the middle of the shouting mob they spotted White, who was apparently trying to have five conversations at the same time. _Okay, we can wait… we have to wait_.

After about twenty minutes Commander was finally free. The blonde spotted them and summoned with a subtle gesture. As they approached, she spoke before they managed to open their mouths. “13O already sent you all information you need. 8H and 7S, you two go back to your regular posts until your officer tells you what to do next. 34D, you’ll come to my room in forty minutes. We have more work since the very beginning of YoRHa, and I’m far from exaggerating. Dismissed.” Her face shew clearly they were not allowed to do anything but saluting and leaving, and so they did without a word.

“Well, something really big must’ve happened, she’s even colder than usually” said 7S as they fled from the bridge and headed towards the nearest access point.

“If the machines’ network really is destroyed… maybe we’ll wipe them out! After thousands of years… hey, 34D” started 8H, knitting her brows “You’re an officer, maybe you know what happened to those Aliens? You know, two weeks ago? Everybody was losing their minds and then… silence.”

“I don’t know either” answered 34D, shaking her head. “I asked, of course, but it’s classified. If I knew anything I would tell you.”

“Wait a second” interrupted 7S “You’re the BIDF Commanding Officer, isn’t it like one of the most important positions in YoRHa? You should know stuff!”

“Theoretically yes, but only on papers. We’re a guarding unit, no one takes us seriously. Apart from Commander, I hope. But she has her own superiors, and they don’t give a shit about us.”

“Damn, everything’s classified these days…” sighed 7S. They got to the access point and opened their mailboxes. There were few unread messages, but one stood out – it was from the Council of Humanity.

_**Attention all androids:** _

_**We have received word of the recent destruction of Adam and Eve, the enemy machine lifeforms’ central networking units. With the enemy weakened, now is our moment! We, humanity’s great army, will now launch an all-out assault, drive back the invaders, and reclaim our rightful home of Earth! Glory to mankind.** _

_**League of Assemblymen** _

_**Council of Humanity** _

“So they _literally_ destroyed the machines’ network!” almost shouted 8H. “I’ve heard the machines were weakened, but this is just… whoa. You think we’ll go to Earth again?”

“We should’ve just stayed down there, we had flight units and everything…” grumbled 7S. He was even more excited about going to the surface than 34D, and Commander ordered their return so soon.

“Alright team, go back to your posts and I’ll check on Commander. There’s no meaning in speculations” ordered 34D and headed towards her quarters. She had some time to kill, so she figured she should do something to calm down. She felt a little bit off – dreamed of reclaiming Earth merely few hours earlier, hoping her dreams might come true in a century or two, yet she didn’t have to wait even one day. A present from gods or what? Maybe she flew into a building in the Flooded City and was unconscious? She rearranged her books, but she had only few of them, so it took only about ten seconds. She started to tidy her room, but it was perfectly clean anyways. All she had left was to lay down and wait.

~

The call button saw action much more often recently and did its job once more, triggering a quiet sound inside the Commander’s room. “Come in” was heard, spoken with a tired, distant voice. The doors lifted, letting 34D in. White was sitting still before her terminal, her eyes jumping from one monitor to another as thousands of lines of text, hundreds of pictures and basically everything one could imagine was appearing and disappearing from them with lightning speed. 34D stood still in silence, to not disturb… whatever White was doing.

Few minutes later the monitors stopped flashing and Commander closed her eyes, rubbed her temples and sighed heavily. 34D had never seen her so exhausted before. “The pieces in place, the game ready to begin” whispered White and deflated, sinking in her chair.

“Umm… Commander? 34D reporting for duty…?” started the Defender hesitantly.

“Oh… sorry, it’s just…” started Commander and opened her eyes. They were blank, devoid of all strength and resolve that usually were there. “Screw all this ‘emotions are prohibited’ shit, come here” she said, patting her thighs.

34D approached White slowly and sat on her lap, letting her girlfriend lock her in a tight embrace. The blonde rested her chin on 34D’s shoulder and exhaled, caressing redhead’s neck with hot air. 34D felt through her back that White was almost burning. She must have been working far too intensely for the last hour…

They were sitting like that for few minutes in silence. 34D tried hard not to explode with questions, seeing how tired and stressed White was, but she couldn’t bear it anymore. There were so many things she wanted to ask about – the machines’ network, the offensive, the very fate of YoRHa… but there was one thing more important than anything else in the world.

“Are you okay, White?” she asked. The blonde didn’t scald on touch anymore, but that just meant there was no need for visiting the maintenance module after all. Hopefully.

“No, I am not” was the answer. 34D turned to face White and kissed her gently. The blonde’s response was weak.

“What’s wrong? Why you’re so sad?”

“It’ll be all over now. In three days we’ll launch the assault, destroy thousands of machines… the world will burn, 34D. And we’ll burn with it.” White was whispering, her voice full of grief. 34D took her visor off, revealing wide opened eyes. She was dumbstruck to the extreme. They were winning the war, they should be happy!

“Why so pessimistic? We’ll finally end this war, bring the humanity back to Earth, rebuild the cities…” she started, but her voice trailed off as she saw tears appearing in the corners of White’s eyes. They were not tears of joy. 34D scowled as an unsettling thought hit her mind. “What do you know I don’t know?” she asked cautiously. White only sighed.

“So, so much… And I really can’t tell you, it… it would end everything the wrong way.”

“Don’t you trust me? White, for gods’ sake, why you never tell me anything important?!”

“Like what? I tell you-“

“Nothing! Like who is A2 the Operators were talking about one day? I asked 13O, but she said it’s classified. What happened to the Aliens? The ground team found them two weeks ago and again, it’s classi-“

“They’re all dead!” shouted White. Her teary eyes, averted until now, were piercing through 34D like daggers made of solid nitrogen. They were so full of emotions – sadness, anger, self-loathing, pity... 34D opened her mouth, but couldn’t find any words. “They were killed by the machines hundreds of years ago. All that remains is an underground bunker with their corpses and few destroyed motherships. Happy now?!” White was almost losing it.

“I… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t push you, it’s just-“

“No, it’s okay” interrupted White again, recollecting herself and forcing a wan smile on her face. “The Aliens are no longer relevant anyways.” She wiped her tears and hugged 34D again, their embrace broken during their little quarrel. “I do trust you, 34D, I really do. Some things are just bigger than you and I, please understand… please, trust me” she managed to say with breaking voice. 34D returned the hug, but after few seconds she stood up, pulling White up from her chair.

“You look like a wreck” she announced.

“Thanks, that really helps a lot” answered White sarcastically. Her face was an image worth all the world’s pity – swollen, red eyes, disheveled hair… but the corners of her mouth were slowly rising again. 34D smiled, hearing these words.

“It’s better with you than it seems, you’re even joking! Now come here.”

“Where are you pulling me- wah!” started White, but her question was abruptly interrupted by 34D literally throwing her on the bed. Redhead’s body pinned her to the sheets and their lips met in a desperate kiss. When they parted again, White was gasping for breath. She looked up on 34D, who started to undo blonde’s dress.

“Should I consider it an attack on commanding officer? I’ll court-martial the hell out of you.” She was confused like never before, contradicting emotions still boiling over in her. It was too sudden.

“I’m looking forward to it” whispered 34D and licked her lips, bent in a mischievous smirk.

White thought she was too old, too experienced to feel like a prey. She was wrong.

~

“Well, that was intense” said White. She was lying on her back, covered only by a crumpled quilt. She was panting, her hair disheveled and stare vacant. The redhead was lying at her side, fondling her thigh gently.

“Do you feel better now?” asked 34D.

“I do. I really do. Huh, sometimes it’s hard to believe we androids don’t have hormones.”

“You looked so incredibly sad… I figured you… you know” said 34D and averted her gaze, abashed slightly. The contrast between 34D now and 34D fifteen minutes earlier was hard to believe in.

“I can’t say you were wrong, it _did_ help after all. But 34D, what if I had some extremely important work to do, and now the entire plan for the final battle is ruined because you pinned me to bed?”

“You said you were finished… I think…” started 34D hesitantly. She inspected White’s face thoroughly. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Don’t worry, I did everything I had to. All that remains is to gather our forces and kick some metal asses.”

“…please don’t ever joke like that again. I was losing my mind for a second.”

“I won’t I promise.” White looked deeply into 34D’s eyes, smiled and shook her head. “You have changed a lot, you know?”

“What do you mean?” asked 34D and tilted her head. _So cute._

“I mean, look at you. A month ago you had problems with talking to me casually, and today… wow” said White and giggled as the redhead groaned and hid her head under the pillow. Few seconds later 34D uncovered herself suddenly and glanced on White curiously.

“What you said about hormones… Why do we want to have sex at all? We’re supposed to kill, not the opposite. And I’d love to hear about a legit use of genitals in a fight” she said and scratched her head in confusion. “Hey, does 7S have a penis?”

White was not prepared to answer those questions. She asked them herself several times, but she could only construct some theories, nothing more. “I… don’t really know. What I think is that humans just wanted to make us as similar to them as possible, but that’s just a theory. And yes, I believe all male androids do have penises, YoRHa models too.”

“You believe…? You have never seen one?” 34D’s brows lifted, left a little bit higher than the right one.

“Why would I want to?” countered White, stroking redhead’s breast and abdomen in one smooth move. 34D was more and more taken aback, which was truly amusing.

“Oh, right… I mean, it’s weird you haven’t seen a naked male android, even accidentally, in all these years… you’re so old!”

White’s face made 34D giggle, but the blonde had an answer already. “Thank you for reminding me. Huh, I guess you like older ladies, then. Much older.”

“Well, if they’re as sexy as certain YoRHa Commander…”

“Okay, you win this time” said White, accepting her defeat with a smile. They laughed and kissed, embracing each other tightly. 34D pushed the blonde a little, making her turn on her back again, and rested atop of her.

“White, have you ever seen a human?” she asked, looking down on her lover.

“Yes, long time ago. Very long time…” answered White, averting her eyes.

“So they do exist after all…” muttered 34D. White fixed her gaze on the redhead again, surprised.

“What do you mean, ‘after all’?”

“Do you believe in gods?”

It was White who was taken aback this time. “No, not really. Why?”

“Let’s take a look at humans. Ingenious beings, who created us in their image and likeness long time ago. Living up in the sky, far above us, giving us laws and purpose. We’re made to serve them and praise their name. Sounds like gods, doesn’t it? And I consider myself an atheist.”

“When you put it like that… but you said yourself ‘we’ll bring the humanity back to Earth’, it doesn’t sound like you doubt about their existence.”

“You know, we say things like ‘for gods’ sake’, right? That’s similar, it’s just carved into our language, our behavior. We’ve been always saying ‘glory to mankind’, but for me it had as much meaning as ‘hallelujah’, which is none.”

“What about all the ruins, images, movies, records… there are tons of them, don’t they convince you?”

“From what I read about architecture, buildings rarely survive two thousand years. What we can see on Earth is four thousand years old at most, and humans fled to the Moon over seven thousand years ago. There’s no way concrete buildings have survived for that long, ergo they must’ve been built much later by us, the androids. I must admit, the movies and other stuff like that confuse me a bit, I mean, why fabricate something like that? To make gods more real, worth dying for or what?”

“I find your lack of faith disturbing” said White, grinning. 34D groaned and her head dropped, resting on blonde’s chest.

“Why are you doing this to meeee… I’m being serious here!”

White laughed out loud, but her expression shifted back to serious, grave even, quickly. “The problem is, so am I. You wanted me to tell you about everything… I think I can make an exception for you…” She averted her eyes again. 34D’s head popped up again, her whole body stiffening at once. “What you just said… it is, and isn’t true, not exactly. The humans did exist, I’ve met few of them in person before YoRHa was created… but they are no more.”

34D only gazed at her intensely, waiting for further explanation.

“Humanity… is extinct. There are no humans on the Moon. Please, don’t tell anyone, that would be a disaster!” she added quickly, seeing 34D’s eyes widening even more.

“O-okay, I won’t tell, but… what about the Council of Humanity?! White, that’s like saying our lives… no, the very existence of YoRHa is _meaningless_!”

“And why would it be any other way for you? You haven’t believed in humans anyway” asked White. “Now that I think about it, how many androids don’t really believe in them…?”

“Yeah, but… you said they did exist! And why would someone lie about the Moon base? Why… no, I think I get it, but…” her voice trailed off, and her expression changed from bewildered to lost in thoughts. After few seconds she inhaled deeply, looked White in the eyes and asked quietly “White, what do you fight for?”

The blonde sighed heavily and looked into distance, above 34D’s head. “I’ve been asking myself this question too many times already” she whispered. “I think I fight for YoRHa, for all the androids in the Resistance… for peace. I want to believe I do. The Council of Humanity is there only to boost morale, but it’s a double-edged sword, as you can see. Sometimes I want to screw this all, declassify all the files I have access to and watch everything burn… but that would only bring suffering and death to all the androids that push themselves farther and farther… so I keep doing my job, trying not to go nuts. I… I’m tired, 34D, s-so tired…” her voice, already shaking, was finally lost in tears.

34D kissed her lover’s cheek and hugged her tightly, stroking her hair. “Don’t cry, please don’t cry… I’m a little shocked, no wonder why, but it’s just like you said, extinct humans are the same as non-existing in my eyes. And you mean a lot to us, to every YoRHa android… to me… you make us all keep going, you really do a great job, so don’t cry… Once we defeat the machines we’ll make Earth our home, not for humans but for us, and that’s something worth fighting for!”

White’s weeping ceased, replaced by heavy breathing. “You’re right” she said, collected again. “I think… I think you should go. We have much work to do, and your unit needs you.”

“I want to stay like this with you forever… but I understand” said 34D, stood up and collected her clothes. “White, just promise me you’ll tell everyone about everything the moment the battle is over. I think most of us will be able to live with what you told me today, we all have people to live for, no matter if they’re organic or not. We’ll work it out.”

“You have my word.”

“And please, let me be a part of the assault! I want to secure our future with my own hands.”

“I let you go once, I think I can let you go again… I won’t stop you anyway, so why bother?” sighed White. 34D got dressed and left, leaving Commander alone with her thoughts. The moment her lover disappeared behind the door all the grave feelings returned, top secret plans surfaced to her mind, and tears flowed on her cheeks again. Only three days of eternity remained.

_I’m so sorry, 34D. I can’t keep that promise._

~

“Yes, 7S, you’re going to Earth too. All Scanners means _all_ Scanners, you included.”

“Hell YES! Prepare yourself, surface, I’m coming back!” shouted 7S, jumping high in the air. He was afraid he wouldn’t be one of the Scanners disabling the machines’ AA defenses, but 34D quickly put him right. He was eager to fight, but so was everyone. Countless missions carried out throughout thousands of years became a routine, and now finally something different, and much bigger, was happening.

The entire BIDF was gathered in one of the docks. Its officer was giving everyone their orders, which wasn’t that hard – most of them would stay in the Bunker and protect Commander and the Operators, just in case. 7S was a Scanner, so he was assigned to the same job all Scanners were. 34D would lead one of the attack teams. They were just a small group securing a second priority area, but she was happy to participate in the assault. 8H insisted to go with her and after few minutes managed to convince Commander there would be more use of her skills on the surface than in the safety of the Bunker.

“Any questions? Everything’s clear?” asked 34D from her regular box. Everyone looked at her silently. “Good, now listen up. Tomorrow is the great day, so I want everyone to rest properly and polish their weapons. Especially you, 7S, the success of the entire operation rests on your scanning shoulders.”

“Yeah, no pressure at all. I’ll be sleeping like a child” answered 7S, putting both of his thumbs up.

“Good to hear. Tomorrow I want you all to report here at hour zero minus six in full combat attire. Dismissed!”

Twenty two androids saluted simultaneously and went to their quarters immediately. 34D headed toward her room too, but changed her mind and went to the bridge instead. She needed to clarify few things, and have a word or two with her Operator.

13O was happy to see her ward. 34D shew up on the bridge more often recently, mostly to please her Operator, and it worked indeed.

“Hello officer, how can I serve you this beautiful day?” greeted her 13O, saluting mockingly, not bothering to leave her comfy chair. Even though 34D was her superior, the Operator never tried to act formal.

“Do you think you’ll go to Earth after we destroy the machines?” asked 34D.

“Hmmm, I don’t really know. I don’t think the Bunker will be needed anymore, so maybe we’ll go down to Earth… on the other hand we might use the space stations as research facilities or something similar, like in the Old World. I might be useful anywhere, so either option sounds nice to me. Why’d ya ask me like that all of the sudden?”

“It’s just… you Operators never leave the Bunker, it’s your entire world. It kind of makes me sad.”

“Hey, I don’t mind. I was made to tap the keyboard and organize all this mess called YoRHa, and the Bunker is the best place to do so. I can’t say I don’t wanna see Earth, but nothing will ever feel like home more than this piece of space junk we’re shut in.” 13O stood up and put her hand on 34D’s shoulder, smiling reassuringly. “Whatever happens, I’m gonna be okay. What I’m more worried about is your gloomy face. You stressed before tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Commander let me go to the surface, but I didn’t have a chance to fight any machines in the end…”

“Don’t worry, even if the metal baddies chop your inexperienced butt to pieces and feed on your insides, we have your backup here!” said cheerfully 13O and let her widest, silliest grin appear on her face. It was not appreciated.

“Operator, please stop being yourself from time to time.”

“Whoa, chill. What I’m trying to say is we got your back. You won’t be alone down there, you’ll have your teammates and I’ll be on the wire all the time. We got your back, 34D” repeated the Operator and gave 34D a tight bear hug. “When it’s all over you can take me on a date to Earth if you wanna. I’m sure we’ll both enjoy it.”

“Okay. It’s a promise, then. I’ll show you the world, Operator” said the redhead and reciprocated, making few joints of the blonde crack.

“Owowow, you’re breaking me… t-that’s abuse…” coughed out 13O, trying to free herself from the crushing hug. 34D released her after few seconds, giving her a grim smile. “Okay, I’m sorry, metal baddies might not eat your guts after all…” apologized the Operator, but a mischievous smirk didn’t left her face. “Love hurts, man. Anyway, you feelin’ better?”

“Yeah, Operator abuse works wonders for me. Maybe you were right, I should’ve come here more often…”

“I didn’t know that dark side of you… I like it” said 13O and winked. They laughed and 34D moved on to the bridge’s elevator. Other Operators were glancing at her as she passed them, few even giggled. 34D thought they might be even jealous a bit, seeing how close she was with 13O. Some androids treated their Operators like tools, and it made her sick.

Commander was on her usual spot, talking with someone via communicator. 34D approached her slowly and waited for the call to end. Commander was so absorbed in it she didn’t notice the redhead, and when she finished talking her voice almost made the blonde jump.

“Commander, I still didn’t receive the information about when does my team deploy to the surface” said 34D in the same formal tone she always used when talking to White in public.

“Didn’t your Operator send you everything?” Commander was honestly surprised.

“No, ma’am. I figured you might have some plans I should talk about in person, so I came.”

“That’s considerate of you, officer. No, I don’t have any special plans for you. Team epsilon takes off at hour zero plus one, so you are in the second wave of invasion. I’ll tell 13O to send you all the details again.”

“Thank you, ma’am” said 34D and saluted, but didn’t move. She opened her mouth and closed them after a second of hesitation.

“Is something wrong, 34D?” asked White quietly, shrinking the distance between them to less than a foot. They were close enough to get a feeling of privacy, even if they were still literally in the middle of the room.

“No, it’s just…” started 34D, but she realized she didn’t really know what to say. She wasn’t sure she wished to say anything at all.

“You know you can tell me anything. I can see something’s bugging you.” Commander’s hand lifted a bit, as if reaching to hold redhead’s palm, but stopped after only few centimeters. 34D’s eyes were covered by a visor, but she lowered her head anyway.

“I’m fine, I just want the final battle to be over. I’ll talk to you then, I promise.”

“I want to hear from you now.” White’s voice raised a bit, and a glimpse of… desperation…? or something close to it, could be heard.

“Why?”

“…”

34D looked up only to see the blonde’s eyes averting. “Do you want me to come to your room later?”

“…it won’t be necessary. Get some rest.”

“White, I’m just stressed a bit, that’s all. Once the battle is over we’ll have all the time we need to talk. Don’t worry about me. And you should rest too, you look awful.”

“…yeah. I’ll try.”

“I’ll be going then” said 34D louder, making few steps back and saluting. She smiled at Commander, turned around and left the bridge.

~

All the team leaders were gathered on the bridge, all in heavy YoRHa armors. Their gazes were fixed on a bright figure standing above them. Not a single sound could be heard, even the Operators stopped tapping their keyboards. Commander was speaking.

“We’ve confirmed that the network core units known as Adam and Eve have been destroyed. The enemy’s chain of command has been thrown into complete chaos. As such, humanity has chosen to seize this opportunity and launch an all-out attack against the machine forces. Of course, the forces of YoRHa will participate in this endeavor.”

They all knew it already, the offensive was being prepared for last three days without a break. They didn’t mind, though – hearing it again only lifted their spirits, proved them it wasn’t only some kind of over-realistic dream. They were going to a full scale war.

“Remember your pain. The pain of having your homeland stolen! We will never give up our struggle. We will take back the seas! The skies! The land! We will take back our world from the scourge of the machines! We will not fail in this mission… Here and now, we will put an end to this goddamn war! Glory… to mankind!”

White’s face was full of resolve, but her figurative heart was shattered. She saluted to her officers, to those who put their faith in her. She didn’t know which one was 34D, they all wore helmets and stood still, engrossed in her speech. Copied and pasted 3D-printed killers, created only to be tossed away after the dirty work was done. She felt sick. They saluted simultaneously as if being an animation, or puppets controlled by the same magician. Few dozens of almost identical voices sounded loud.

“GLORY TO MANKIND!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **There are parts of this chapter I'm proud of, and others that I've re-written so many times I stopped counting and they still don't look good to me, but I don't have enough patience for myself here. I'm simply lacking skills, but that's why I write and why I post this work here. After this fanfic is done I'll probably torment the community with more of my graphomania, so beware! >:D**

**Author's Note:**

> **Okay, this is the end of first chapter. If you survived to this point, I'm already happy. If you have some notes on language, I'd love to hear from you - my mother tongue is very different from english, it has completely different syntax and punctuation and that's what's bothering me most. Oh, and prepositions are a pain too...  
> **   
>  **Anyway, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy. I'll post next chapter in a week or so, the finals are coming and I don't have much time for writing. Until then, farewell!**


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